The Childhood of Hestia Jones
by agardenoflupins
Summary: A brief AU introduction to Hestia Jones by looking at her childhood. It is a one-shot written as a prologue to an AU multi-chapter Hestia Jones piece which I am going to start at some point.


**This is a very brief description of Hestia Jones' childhood which acts as a prologue for a Hestia/Fabian story I am currently playing around with in my mind as it basically foreshadows events which will create a domino effect of the Hestia/Fabian story. This is a one shot, but will be an a companion of the Hestia/Fabian when it is finally published. Hestia and Emmeline belong to Jo Rowling, while the other characters are my own although are hopefully rather canon corroborating as that is what I was hoping for. P.S, I am a large fan of Jane Austen and so have decided that Pure-bloods definitely had servants in the middle of the twentieth century purely because, as a writer, I have the power to make that happen. I hope you enjoy and, if you can, review.**

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><p>Everyone knew that Hestia Jones was a bastard.<p>

The servants all knew it. But they loved the petite child with all their might, and had done since she'd arrived at Greengrass Manor at the age of four in a trench coat made for fully grown adult and tiny patent shoes which were scuffed and brown from dirt. Mrs Orwell had found her on the doorstep on a rainy November night; her eyes looking up at the old witch expectantly as she introduced in a clear tone, far too mature for a young child, "I'm Hestia, how do you do?"  
>The young miss was loved by the servants far more than any of them had ever expected. It was this love which forced them all to pretend she was exactly what Octavius Greengrass, the master of the house, said she was – the orphaned daughter of an old friend. Never mind that Hestia's smoke grey eyes and thick, black hair matched Octavius' perfectly, or that she had the same smile as Octavius' sister and mother, or the same frustrated frown of Octavius' son, Taurus. No one wanted to upset the young miss, or lose their jobs, by pointing that out, so they didn't.<p>

Octavius Greengrass never discussed Hestia or her origins to anyone – not even his wife, Lavinia – yet it was assumed that he knew she was his daughter. Hestia had arrived with a note on her person which he had collected before taking himself to his office for a near week. It was rumoured that during that time he studied the note properly and contacted his friend's lawyer to confirm the story, but it seemed far more likely that he was drinking himself silly out of guilt. Octavius was very much in love with his wife and had been since their childhood when they'd been friends; it was only likely, therefore, that he couldn't believe his luck when the one time he cheated, and drunkenly at that, he conceived a child from it. By the end of the week, the letter was found by one of the maids in the fireplace, so burnt that the message was now indistinguishable and, once Octavius had seen Lavinia and Hestia enjoying each other's company in the autumn sun of the garden, the master had left his study and continued his life as normal. He was lucky his wife was so caring and giving, where others of his blood-status were not.

Since the Greengrass families were purebloods, Hestia was safe in their haven of their home while the time passed and the rise of the dark forces formed and, for a while, they were all very happy. Hestia had taken a bedroom between her half-brother and half-sister's and was spoilt rotten. Octavius continued to address her to all as his ward, and Hestia addressed Octavius by his first name although frequently wished she could call him "Papa" as Taurus and Emmeline did, but never dared for fear of upsetting anyone. As children, there were none happier than the Greengrass children. That was until 1969 when Emmeline and Taurus left their cosy lives for the excitement and adventure of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

After her siblings left, Hestia was left to her own devices, especially once Lavinia started getting sick and was moved to a permanent residence at St Mungo's. It was at that point when Hestia resorted to the entertainment of reading to pass by the long and usually lonely days. She had always been a rather intelligent child who had excelled at reading in particular, to the point that she once told Mrs Orwell at the age of seven in a very pompous tone, "But Maggie," for that was Mrs Orwell's first name, and Hestia wasn't old enough to realise that Mrs Orwell was employed at Greengrass Manor, and did not simply live there out of enjoyment, "I have read _all _the books in Octavius' library that are _worth_ reading. All the ones I have no read are boring and about silly things like muggles and boys." This was why in 1969 when she, a child of seven, was left to her own devices had started to rummage through the study in hopes to find some information on her mother.

It would seem important to note now that Hestia knew she was Octavius' bastard child. It wasn't clear how she knew, but she did. It was just something she had naturally accepted and known her entire life. She had few memories of her life before her arrival with the Greengrass family, but she could remember apparating to the Manor with a woman with a large face whose sad expression seemed out of place on boisterous cheeks with thick laugh lines. The pair had arrived at the very end of the long drive so they couldn't be seen from the house. Hestia couldn't recall how much time passed at that point, but it must have been quite a while as the woman had a large red nose and was sniffing a lot as though cold. She could also remember standing on the doorstep wondering why the woman was sitting in the bushes instead of with Hestia as the door opened and Hestia was met with Mrs Orwell who, although very kind in appearance, was a complete and utter stranger. But most of all, Hestia remembered the woman - who she could only assume was her maternal grandmother - give her a longing kiss on her forehead before promising to visit – which she never had. These memories didn't upset our poor protagonist. If anything they made her curious of her mother, the one person she could remember nothing about. This curiosity only heightened when on the 23rd December 1969, Lavinia passed away and Hestia found herself in a position where she had lost two mothers already at the age of eight.

Life from then onwards just seemed to go downhill. Once the mourning period was over, Octavius decided that the children would need a mother and so in March 1971 after a very brief courting period, he married Medusa Higgs, a young woman who had been widowed a few years before. When her husband died, she became a rather wealthy widow at the age of just twenty eight with no worries in the world apart from her five year old son Richard, or as she called him, Richie. It wasn't that Medusa was a stereotypical wicked step-mother. Not at all, she was very lovely to Taurus and Emmeline when they returned home for the wedding and rather pleasant to Hestia too. It was only when June finally bore its head, bringing with it Hestia's tenth birthday that trouble arose.

It was custom within the Greengrass household when it was someone's birthday for them all to have a meal in the evening to celebrate it. As Taurus and Emmeline were at school, it was only Octavius, Medusa, Hestia and little Richie this year which was rather awkward for Hestia hardly knew Medusa and Richie and missed her siblings very much. Over desert, however, everything got worse.

"So," Medusa had begun, breaking the silence that had offended the four for most of the meal, "It is only a year now, Hestia, and you'll be getting your Hogwarts letter. Are you excited?"

Hestia nodded and continued with her pudding rather shyly.

"What house were your parents in? I bet they were in Ravenclaw – you are always reading, child, you need to come out and embrace the fresh air every once in a while."

"My father was in Slytherin," Hestia had replied then, a thin blush on her cheeks. She had never so openly before admitted to Octavius that she knew of her parentage and was unsure how he would react. Carefully she crossed her fingers under the table while taking a peak in his direction, only to see him recover his stunned expression and give a small nod, confirming the information Hestia had given with a simple, indifferent, "He was."

Medusa seemed surprised by the comment, and questioned, "A Slytherin? Who? Perhaps I know him, or the family, at least."

To say the moment following was silent is like saying childbirth is simply irritating; it doesn't give credit where it is due. No, the moment that followed would be better represented by saying the noise in the room after Medusa's rather innocent question, was more penetratingly loud than noise in space. As Hestia finally realised that Medusa had absolutely no idea that she wasn't simply a orphaned child of a friend. In fact, for the first time in her life, Hestia had come across someone who didn't just know she was a bastard since Hestia had never really ventured out of the safe walls of her home. The thought, for a moment, was oddly thrilling yet the thrill seemed to die down when she realised what a predicament that left her and Octavius in. Purebloods didn't usually take kindly to by-blows, especially not half-blood ones.

After a moment though Octavius spoke in a small voice, "You know, I can't remember the surname myself." The lie was feeble, causing Medusa's eyes to suddenly cast downwards suspiciously. "We weren't even really too friendly, he was a distant cousin some years older than me." He remarked before going on to compliment the cake that lay before him uneaten.

The conversation of Hestia's parentage wasn't brought up again, and Medusa continued to treat Hestia with the upmost respect and politeness, but every now and then Hestia would catch Medusa staring at her critically; her lips pressed together in a thin, displeased line allowing Hestia to conclude only one thing – she knew.


End file.
